Isaac c



@with gratte sttrrtt @fitta ISAAC C. WILLIAMS, OF PHILADELPHIA, PENNSYLVANIA.

zum Patent No. 70,306, dared october 29, 1867.

IMPROVIED LAY-AWAY VAT POR TANNING.

@la ,Sdgehtle referrer tu in tipa @litters tant imitating pmt nf ligt rame.

TO ALL WHOM IT MAY CONGERN:

Beit known that I, ISAAC C. WILLIAMS, of the city et' Philadelphia, in the State of Pennsylvania, have invented a new and useful Improvement inv the Lay-Away Vat for Tanning; and do hereby declare that the following is a full, clear, and exact description of the construction and operation of the same, reference being had to the accompanying drawings, making a part of this specifica-tion, in which- Figure 1 is a plane view of the said improved vat, and

Figure 2 a vertical transverse section of the same on the dotted line :r g/ of iig. 1-

Like letters of referenccindicating the same parts when in both figures, y l Y The object of my improvement is to obviate the necessity of removing the hides in a lay-away vat when a renewal of the tanning liquor is required; and the nature of my invention consists, substantially as herein` after described, in providing the interior of the vat with an inclined supplementary bottom, one or more pairs of detachable hide-supporting frames, and interstitial supplementary sides and ends, so constructed and applied that all the tanning liquor can be quickly and thoroughlywithdrawn from between the hides, and fresh liquor replaced, as often as may be required, without removing or handling any of the said hides, and without diminishing the advantages peculiar to the lay-away vats.

Referring to the drawings, A B is the vat, C the inclined supplementary bottom, D D a pair ofthe detachable hide-supporting frames, andE E E E the interstitial supplementary sides and ends. The body of the vat A B is made in the usual rectangular form, and provided with a draining-hole and plug for the discharge ofthe spent liquor. The interstitial sides and ends E consist of' narrow wooden slats,e e', nailed fast to horizontal pieces, e e, in vertical positions, parallel with each other, and at a quarter of an inch apart, (more or less.) entirely around the inner sides and ends oi the body A B, substantially as represented in the drawings, thus producing a clear space behind the slats communicating with the interior ofthe vat. The inclined. supplementary bottom -C is permanently fixed at a short distance above the usual bottom In of the vat, and is inclined-downward from both sides of its longitudinal centre or middle to the interstitial sides E of the vat, (see tig. 2.) The detachable hide-supporting frames D D are two separate skeleton frames, extending horizontally from end to end ot` the vat, at about half the height of the same, (in this instance,) and with their two inner-side edges abutting together along the same, and the two frames inclining downward therefrom (like the supplementary bottom C) to the sides ofthe vat, and resting upon cleats e e", nailed firmly tothe slats e', (see Eg. 2.) These frames are for the purpose of dividing the weight or pressure of the mass of hides in the vat.

l Operation.

The frames D D being irst taken out of the vat A B, the hides to be tanned are successively laid alternately upon the two inclined surfaces of the supplementary bottom C, with the straight edges of the said hides next to the interstitial sides E, and their irregular or leg edges interlapping with each other over the' central ridge formed by the said inclined bottom C, until the layers, with ground bark sprinkled between, as here tofore, reach the cleats c, when the pair of detached frames D D is replaced upon the said cleats, and the laying away of the hides and bark continued thereon, in the same manner, until the vat is fully supplied. The plug a is then inserted in the draining-hole, and the-fresh tanning liquor run into the vat until the hides are perfectly covered thereby. When a substitution of fresh for the exhausted tanning liquor is required, the plug a is withdrawn, and the exhausted liquor then immediately runs of?, and drains away completely from between the hides by ruiming down their inclined surfaces, and between the slats e to the space and outlet below the supplementary bottom C, after which the plug-a is to be reinsertcd, andthe fresh liquor run into the vat as before, thus, it will be seen, rendering the tedious and laborious removal or handling ofthe hides, for the purpose as heretofore required in luy-away vats, entirely unnecessary until after the tanning is completed,

I am aware thatjhe hides have been suspended vertically n vats so as to allow the requisite changings of the liquor without removing the hides, but this mode does not admit ofthe intervention .of tan between'the hides to keep them fromv direct and close contact with each other, nor of the introduction of' so large a quantity of the hides in the same-sized vat as in the lay-away system; therefore I do not desire to claim broadly the doing' away with the necessity of removing or handling the hides in changing the liquor, nor do intend to confine myself' to the use of a single pair of the frames D D, as the number should be increased in proportion to thc alumna depth of the vat; but, having fully described my improvement in the lay-away vat, what I claim as new therein of my invention, and desire to secure by Letters Patent, is confined to the following, viz:

1. I claim the employment of the interstitial supplementary sides and ends E, substantially as described, for the purpose of allowing a more free and perfect escape of the spentliquor, and the admittance of tlic fresh, as described.

2. I claim the application of the supplementary inclined bottom C, substantially as described, for the purpose of causing the spent liquor to run oil` from between the hides in a perfect and rapid manner.

3. I also claim the employment of the skeleton frames D D, or their equivalents, substantially as described, for the purpose of preventing toc great a pressure between the layers of hides.

ISAAC C. WILLIAMS.

Witnesses:

BENJ. MonIsoN, JAMES WINSMORE, Jr. 

